Joan Rivers is on life support … and sources close to the legendary comedian tell TMZ she is completely reliant on machines to stay alive.
According to our sources, the family will have to decide in the next couple of days whether to keep the 81-year-old on life support. We’re told the family remains hopeful that if they do decide to turn off the machines, she will make a turn for the better and fight through it.
No, there are no reports that Chris Brown had anything to do with it.
Shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, a shooting occurred at 1OAK nightclub in the 9000 block of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood where two men and a woman were wounded, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said in a statement provided to the Daily News.
The suspect remains unknown, but the victims include a 49-year-old male, widely reported as music producer Marion (Suge) Knight, as well as two unnamed victims, a 32-year-old male and a 19-year-old female. All the victims were transported to local hospitals and are expected to recover.
Absolutely amazing!
By now, I’m sure you’ve seen many of your friends and family do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. You’ve probably seen your favorite actor, musician or athlete do it too. In fact, there is a good chance that you have also completed the Challenge. Your Facebook time line is probably clogged with people pouring ice cold water on themselves. Are you bored of it yet? Well don’t be.
Despite the fact that you have seen it everywhere, many don’t know how it became about ALS and even more don’t know the correct way to complete the challenge.
This is Pete Frates. He was 27 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He was 27 when a doctor looked him in the eyes and told him he has a disease that was a death sentence and has no cure and no course of treatment.
You wouldn’t blame the guy for giving up. You wouldn’t blame him for feeling sorry for himself or being angry. That’s not what happened though. You see, Pete was a hard nosed baseball player. He was the captain of the Boston College team. Giving up wasn’t something he was accustomed to. So he charged at the problem and began speaking and raising money for the ALSA which is an association that aides research in the hopes of finding a cure for ALS.
It was Pete’s friends that had seen others doing this ice bucket challenge to benefit various charities and decided to do it in honor of Pete. Well, it took off and now Pete has achieved what he set out to do. Pete is the reason that since July 29th of this year, ALSA.org has raised $31.5 million. And just to point out how incredible that actually is, that’s 16 times more than what the foundation received in the same time period last year.
Still, we can all do better. There are still many who don’t quite grasp how the challenge works. If you are nominated to complete the challenge, you are expected to dump a bucket of ice water over your head AND donate an amount of your choice to The ALSA . You can choose to not dump the water over your head and donate no less than $100. Either way, the foundation should be receiving a donation.
The whole point of dumping the ice water is to add a little fun to donating for a good cause. It keeps the cause circulating and getting bigger because each person nominates 3 others to complete the challenge.
I have to admit, I was one of the people who did not believe this challenge was helping anyone because I just didn’t understand it, but now that I do, I am amazed by how such an amazing cause has spread like wildfire. And it’s all thanks to a wonderful man names Pete Frates and his awesome friends. Thanks Pete!
To learn more about Pete and his cause, watch this ESPN special on Pete Frates and the Ice Bucket Challenge!
Before getting the bucket of ice water dumped on his head, Miami Cleveland NBA Star LeBron James nominated his son and the President of the United States, Barack Obama.
Sidenote – The president has been nominated a few times already. Is he ever going to take this challenge? I’m on the case. Also, ALS has already collected over $4 million in ice bucket challenge donations.
via Instagram
In a Facebook post, Jeffery Eaton, the band’s lyricist wrote that he simply could not stand by and watch the unfolding in Ferguson Missouri, where an unarmed 18-year-old was murdered by a police officer.
In the post, Jeffery wrote;
I’ve been glued to twitter and live streams of Ferguson since last Saturday Night when unarmed 18 year old Mike Brown was shot to death by a police officer. All week I have been hesitant to speak, trying to wrap my mind around the complexities of it all while watching the demonstrations, protests and clashes with police. Now it’s 4 am on Saturday Night and I can’t sleep because all I can do is think about it. I realize I will never have the perfect words so for now, I will let them spill out and explain why I must.
I have no specific authority to speak on the subject, but I’ve been writing lyrics about life in this country for over a decade now. I view it as a conversation from the perspective of an angry American with other angry Americans. Ferguson must be a part of that conversation because it’s so important and happening so close to home. I am only speaking to encourage us all to look at our lives and the world around us honestly and to go much deeper than the mass media or advertising world had planned for us. I only want for each of us to claim the dignity that we deserve.
So what can I say about it? At the very least I can say that I don’t condone murder, especially when committed by a person hired to serve and protect us and paid by for by our tax dollars. I can say that the burning anger in Ferguson goes far beyond looting and random violence. This is not a temper tantrum or an excuse. This is a symptom of the disease. I think the people out on the streets in Ferguson are fed up. I think they are tired of being marginalized and pushed down. They are mourning the death of this young man, and are also very aware that his death has come to symbolize the disease. America is sick and we are angry. We want to be proud Americans, but we live under a shadow of shame. We don’t want our names on the bombs that burn the bodies of innocent people in the Middle East, but we know they are. We know we are not the world and we don’t want to be. Our America is our beautiful American music and the collective kind hardworking and independent spirit of the majority of our citizens. We know that no life is more valuable than another no matter where we were born or what color our skin is. Our leaders are not properly representing us and they do not have our best interests in mind. The endless war has not been justified to us and does not represent us. We feel more threatened than protected by the police. We are hostages to the dream. Our dignity, compassion and intelligence is being mocked by the actions of those in power.
Strong work ethic will hopefully result in a simple humble life. Striving for the security of the upper class may mean falling short and drowning in debt. Greed may give you your dream home and a luxury car, it will certainly give you Ferguson, Missouri and Flint, Michigan. No matter what side of which argument you identify with, you must admit that there must be winners and losers in the game we play in this country. There is not enough room for us all in the upper class. If there was there would be no one to keep the castles clean. Whether by choice, circumstance or failure, we find ourselves at the bottom of the dream.
And the questions… So who are these people? Am I really one of them? Have we done it to ourselves? Should we all put our heads down and shut our mouths, work harder to make more money to insulate our lives from the poor neighborhoods and the anger and struggle that exists within them? Should we focus on a handful of looters and ignore the justified anger? Should we ignore the disease? Should we be scared to speak because we are not experts on capitalism, law enforcement, health car and international politics? Does this country belong to us? Does the world belong to us? Do our lives belong to us? Should I expect to be mocked for identifying more closely with the angry people in the streets of Ferguson than with the silent sinking middle class? Should we hope that last night was the last night in the streets? Should the people go home and get back to work before catching the attention of the entire nation and the entire world? Is it worth it?
Most of us would prefer to sweep these confounding problems aside and keep enjoying the ride, but it’s becoming more and more clear than we need to stop and change directions. Netflix and alcohol are not enough to keep our minds off it and now it’s past 5 am on Sunday Morning and the sun is coming up on my humble street in Kansas City. I don’t want to deal with it but I know that I am a heartless coward if I do not face it, so I let the words spill out. This won’t be posted till I get some sleep and give myself a chance to remain silent and do my part in maintaining the status quo. America, we’ve been going the wrong way for a long time. Ferguson slammed on the brakes, howled and bit back when Mike Brown was brutally murdered last week. Monday morning did not mean getting back to the grind and the next Saturday Night was not about having a beer and a laugh. Each moment since his life ended has been about problems that can no longer be ignored. #Ferguson #mikebrown
NBC vehemently denied this story when it came out a few weeks ago, but now there seems to be confirmation that David Gregory is history.
Chuck Todd, the NBC News chief White House correspondent and political director, will replace David Gregory as moderator of “Meet The Press,” network sources confirmed early Thursday afternoon in the wake of a CNN report.
Todd’s promotion, which the network could announce as early as Thursday, is an effort by NBC News to reassert itself as the dominant Sunday show after falling to third place in the ratings under Gregory. The news confirms a previous report from POLITICO’s Mike Allen that Todd was the likely successor to the throne
When I got out of college in 1982 a friend of mine, Michael “Smooth” Carrington, and I became a comedy team called Bob and Smooth and embarked on a grand adventure to New York to become stand up comedians. Our home club was the Comic Strip on Second Avenue and we did the late, late, late night spots that all budding comics have to cover to hone their craft and not embarrass themselves in front of too many people. By 1983 we were finding a modicum of success, had played some important clubs in New York and had done some out-of-town touring. It was a magical time.
In the fall of 1983, some of the Comic Strip regulars started an improvisation group that performed on Monday nights. Word quickly spread and we were performing before some pretty decent crowds and, if I can be so bold, the troupe was pretty darned funny.
In October, Robin Williams showed up and said that he wanted to perform with us. Turns out that he was in New York to film the movie, “Moscow on the Hudson” and had heard of the improv group. Of course, he knew all about the Comic Strip, which, with the Improv and Catch a Rising Star was one of the big three clubs for comedy in the city. To say that we were thrilled was an understatement and of course we all wanted to perform with Robin, which made for some interesting choices once the improv games commenced.
What I clearly remember was that Robin Williams was both one of the most confident, and one of the most scared individuals I have ever met. When we were on stage together (tickles me to get to say that) his was a comic beast who spewed funny lines (and some unfunny ones) as easily as most people breathe. He was a joy to work with because, well, anything was fair game, any word was acceptable and any clunker could be turned into a laugh.
I particularly remember Williams’ eyes while we interacted with him. His face and body might be in overdrive, but his eyes were very nurturing, giving us a look that said, “it’s OK, just say what you want and have confidence in the joke.” It was a terrific feeling because those of us in the improv group were certainly very nervous to be on stage with him. If one of us said something particularity inspired, those eyes smiled and winked (without winking) and he would take off with whatever line we had fed him. He was also generous while being a straight man, feeding us lines like comic t-ball stands that we could easily hit out of the park.
Of course, we all wanted to be on stage with Robin Williams and that led to some interesting turns. We played an improv game called tag, which is pretty self-explanatory; two people start a scene and then another comic tags one on stage, the scene stops, that comic leaves, and the new comic takes over. What happened was that we would all tag each other and leave Williams on the stage for an extended time (not that he minded), but it looked like a tutorial with eager comics approaching the guru and giving him lines that he would manically churn into his own private routine. The audience didn’t care. Neither did we.
But Williams also appeared scared at times. Perhaps it was the fear that all comics experience when they’re thrown into a new situation without a script and need to be funny. Sometimes he would continue to talk even though what he was saying was not very funny, hoping that the next thing out of his mouth would get the crowd going. There were also periods when he would disappear. It was difficult when we played the tag game, but in others he would say one thing and then withdraw, and he’d have this blank, scared look on his face. It didn’t last long, but I noticed it. He also was one of those comics who was always “on,” telling jokes but never revealing himself to any of us. I certainly understand that this might have been a function of his not knowing any of us, but my experience with comics who are always doing material is that they really don’t know what else to say.
And for all of his fame, even in 1983, he came to the Comic Strip alone, left alone and always said the same thing when he went out the door. He had one of those huge down jackets that were fashionable in the 1970s and 80s and he would hold it close to his chest when the night was over and say, “I’ve got to go home and feed this thing.” Not terribly funny, but that’s what he said.
I also saw Robin Williams utterly destroy another 1980s comic, Eddie Murphy in a performance that. looking back on it now, anticipated their career trajectories. At the time, Murphy was a star on Saturday Night Live and his two movies, “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Trading Places” had put him on the mega-star map. The Comic Strip was also Murphy’s home club, (the club’s owners were his managers), and he was using it to test out and hone material for his first national tour. The other club’s comics, including me, stood in the back to see what Murphy had, and for the most part it was funny, but not spectacular.
In the middle of his routine, though, Murphy made a big mistake. Robin Williams was in the audience and Murphy asked him to come up on the stage and improv with him. Murphy never had a chance. Williams ran comic rings around him and was so stunningly funny that the audience didn’t want him to leave. Murphy took back the stage, but the rest of his routine paled in comparison to what we had just seen.
My favorite Robin Williams story, or at least the one that I can connect to him personally, came after Williams finished filming “Moscow on the Hudson” and didn’t perform with us anymore. One of the other improv games we played was called Expert, where 5 or 6 comics sit on stage and the audience tells us what subject we are experts in. We were then free to adopt a personality and, hopefully, be funny (I was an expert on water, hubcaps, and WD-40). A comic named Rob (I forget his last name) had a character he created named Dr. Vinnie, a crude, rude, sexually obsessed Brooklyn pseudo-doctor. He was very funny and performed the character every week that Williams was with us.
A couple of weeks later, Rob came into the Comic Strip and was very excited. He gathered us around and told us that he and his girlfriend were dining at a large restaurant across the street from Lincoln Center when Williams entered the restaurant. Of course, the place began buzzing as patrons noticed who had just walked in. Williams surveyed the scene, noticed Rob at one of the tables at the far end of the restaurant, and at the top of his lungs bellowed, “Look! It’s Doctor Vinnie!”Imagine ebing in a restaurant and a star recognizes you.
That was Robin Williams. He was accessible and aloof, confident and unsure, always looking for the funny and frequently finding it. I will leave the psychoanalysis of his demons to those more qualified than I to discuss them, but his untimely death has me thinking about the shortness of life and making sure that we experience what we can.
I will say that I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have crossed paths with him and I will never forget those few weeks in the fall of 1983.
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Following the untimely passing of Robin Williams – one of America’s greatest and most beloved entertainers – President Obama and The First Family issued the following statement.
Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien — but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most — from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams.
Williams died yesterday at the age of 63.
The sad news of Robin Williams apparent suicide at the age of 63 is still settling in. As we fondly remember the movie moments the comedian gave us, others are looking back on how he personally touched their lives. For his part, The Roots’ drummer Questlove posted an Instagram of Mork and Mindy-era Williams and shared his story about the band meeting the actor on one fateful elevator ride. Read his full statement below:
Man. The smallest gesture can mean the world to you. Robin Williams made such an impact on me and didn’t even know it. He named checked all of us in the elevator during the 2001 Grammys. I know y’all think I do this false modesty/T Swift “gee shucks” thing to the hilt. But yeah sometimes when you put 20 hour days in you do think it’s for naught and that it goes thankless. Grammy time is somewhat of a dark time simply because you just walk around asking yourself is it worth it or not: all the sweat and blood. I just felt like (despite winning grammy the year before) no one really cares all that much for us except for a select few. Especially in that environment I’m which people treat you like minions until they discover what you can do for them…if you’re not a strong character you run the risk of letting it get to you.
This particular Sunday we were walking backstage and had to ride the elevator to the backstage area and we piled inside when suddenly this voice just said “questlove…..black thought….rahzel….the roots from Philadelphia!!!! That’s right you walked on this elevator saying to yourself “ain’t no way this old white dude knows my entire history and discography”….we laughed so hard. That NEVER happened to is before. Someone a legend acknowledged us and really knew who we were (his son put him on to us) man it was a small 2 min moment in real life but that meant the world to me at the time. Everytime I saw him afterwards he tried to top his trivia knowledge on all things Roots associated. Simply because he knew that meant everything to me. May his family find peace at this sad time. I will miss Robin Williams. #RIP.”
Williams was found by police early Monday morning in his Tiburon, California home. An initial coroner’s report notes suicide as the suspected cause.
Robin Williams will be missed. He brought a special piece of joy to the world.
Beloved actor Robin Williams was found dead on Monday, police reported.
He was 63.
The apparent cause of death was suicide, authorities said.
Williams was best known for his starring roles in classic comedies like Mrs. Doubtfire and Jumanji. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. He rose to fame while playing Mork the alien in the TV show Mork & Mindy, a Happy Days spinoff.
Most recently, Williams had starred in the new CBS sitcom ‘The Crazy Ones.’ It was cancelled after just one season.
Susan Schneider, the actor’s wife, released the following statement to the New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff:
“This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one if its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken. On behalf of Robin’s family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. As he is remembered, it is our hope that the focus will not be on Robin’s death but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”
Another ESPN hose is suspended over the Ray Rice domestic abused issue. Following the return of Stephen A. Smith from his week long suspension, ESPN has now suspended Max Kellerman for comments he made about domestic abuse on a radio show.
Kellerman co-hosts a show on the station and is the co-anchor of ESPN TV’s “SportsNation.” He is also HBO Sports’ lead boxing analyst.
On the “Mason & Ireland ” show, which leads into his afternoon-drive program, Kellerman admitted to hitting his girlfriend many years ago.
ESPN would neither confirm nor deny Kellerman’s suspension. In a statement issued Friday afternoon and ESPN spokesman said: “Max Kellerman will return to ESPN-LA Radio and ‘SportsNation’ on Thursday.”
